Sports News

Sparta Prague were due to be presented with the football league title at the weekend, but a legal question means they can't celebrate just yet; the Prague club are not best pleased. In tennis the Czech pair of Novak and Stepanek reached the final of the World Team Cup, only to be beaten by Chile. At least one Czech is going to get his hands on ice hockey's Stanley Cup this season and world champion Martin Koukal has been named skiing's King of the White Tracks.

Sports News

Unimpressed Sparta Prague can't celebrate title win just yet

Sparta - Olomouc, photo: CTK

You may recall that last weekend's game between Bohemians and Sparta Prague was abandoned with Sparta leading 2:1 when a Bohemians fan attacked a linesman. A ruling by the Czech FA on Friday - as widely expected - awarded Sparta a 3:0 win. Meaning Sparta were league champions and could collect the trophy at their home game against Olomouc on Saturday. Or so it seemed until after Sparta's 1:0 win over Olomouc when it became clear they wouldn't get the trophy as Bohemians still have a chance to appeal. Cue widespread anger from Sparta and their fans. Goal-scorer Lukas Zelenka expressed his frustration after the game:

Lukas Zelenka, photo: CTK

"For practically a week we haven't been doing full training, just some light training...we've been celebrating and now this. Today we were ready to celebrate with the fans and you've seen what's happened - they've really made us look like idiots."

Here's what Sparta chairman Vlastimil Kostal had to say:

"All of us including the club officials and the players thought we were champions, then during the game we found out about this legal possibility which means the whole thing will drag on for two weeks."

At the other end of the table, Bohemians appear - also subject to that appeal - to have been relegated along with Hradec Kralove. That despite the Prague side's 1:0 win over Teplice at the weekend.

Czech pair lose to Chile in final of tennis's World Team Cup

The Czech pair of Jiri Novak and Radek Stepanek beat Australia, Spain and the USA at the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, only to lose 2:1 to Chile in the final; with the score at 1:1 after the singles matches, Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez beat the Czechs 6:4 6:2 in Saturday's doubles.

All eyes are now on the French Open which has just got underway. Novak is the only Czech in action on the opening day; the 13th seed faces Julien Benneteau of France.

Czechs on both sides in ice hockey Stanley Cup final series

At least one Czech player will crown this season by getting his hands on the most prestigious trophy in ice hockey, the NHL's Stanley Cup; in the final series Petr Sykora will line up for Anaheim against countrymen Patrik Elias and Richard Smehlik of New Jersey.

Student Koukal skiing's King of the White Tracks

Cross-country skier Martin Koukal, who took the gold in the 50 kilometres race at the World Championships in March, has won the King of the White Tracks award for Czech skier of the year. Koukal - who is still a student - was given the award on Friday, just days after returning from a climb on Mont Blanc, where he had to abandon an attempt to reach the peak due to bad weather.